Spanning Years 7 to 12, the program provides a clear scope and sequence of ready-to-use lessons that support student wellbeing, character development, leadership, and responsibility across adolescence.
Rather than isolated lessons or short-term initiatives, GROWTH offers a consistent, whole-school approach to pastoral care, ensuring continuity and progression at every year level.
Lessons are delivered within mentor time, homeroom, or dedicated pastoral care sessions and are supported by print-based student booklets and clear teacher guidance.
The GROWTH program is intentionally designed as a six-year journey.
Each year level builds on the skills, values, and understandings developed in the previous year, allowing pastoral care to evolve alongside students as they mature. Core themes such as identity, relationships, responsibility, and growth are revisited at increasing levels of depth and complexity.
Schools are supported with:
This structure provides schools with confidence that pastoral care is intentional, cohesive, and sustainable.
The GROWTH Pastoral Care Program is structured as a six-year, developmentally sequenced curriculum from Year 7 to Year 12.
Each year level builds intentionally on the skills, values, and understandings developed in the previous year, ensuring continuity, progression, and age-appropriate focus across secondary schooling.
GROWTH is grounded in evidence-informed practice and designed to work in real schools, with real staff, under real-time constraints. It builds a shared language, embeds consistent values, supports meaningful conversation, and reduces variation caused by staff turnover.
By partnering with schools, GROWTH helps create environments where students feel grounded, supported, and prepared for life beyond school.
A research-informed approach to pastoral care and student development
The GROWTH Pastoral Care Program is grounded in well-established research from the fields of adolescent development, psychology, and education. These theories are not presented to students as abstract content. Instead, they inform the design, sequencing, and delivery of structured lessons that support student wellbeing, development, and engagement.
In GROWTH, research shapes what is taught, when it is taught, and how it is delivered. Each lesson is intentionally designed to develop specific skills and protective factors through discussion, reflection, and application.
Students are not taught theory in isolation. Instead, they engage in structured activities that build capabilities such as emotional regulation, communication, goal setting, and decision making over time.
This approach ensures that research is translated into consistent classroom practice rather than remaining theoretical.
GROWTH draws on many well-recognised frameworks in education and wellbeing:
GROWTH incorporates structured thinking routines informed by research from Harvard’s Project Zero. These routines provide a consistent framework for reflection, discussion, and deeper thinking across lessons.
They support students to make connections, extend their understanding, and critically reflect on their thinking.
Each lesson in GROWTH is designed to translate research into practical learning experiences. Students are actively engaged in applying skills rather than passively receiving information.
Examples include:
The GROWTH program is structured to align with student development across Year 7-12. In Year 7, the focus is on transition, belonging, identity, and foundational skills. This provides the basis for more complex learning in later years, including independence, leadership, and preparation for life beyond school.
GROWTH is not a collection of standalone wellbeing activities. It is a structured, research-informed pastoral curriculum designed to support student development through consistent, practical, and developmentally appropriate learning experiences.
